TELLING THE TIME OF GRAMMAR

To tell someone what the
time is, we can say "The time is..." or, more usually,
"It's...". Here is a typical dialogue:

Question:

What's the time, please?

Answer:

It's three o'clock.

The chart below shows
you two different ways to tell someone what the time is.

more formal

less formal

It's...

It's...

3.00

three o'clock

three

3.02

just gone three o'clock

three oh two

3.03

three minutes past three

three oh three

3.05

five past three

three oh five

3.09

nine minutes past three

three oh nine

3.10

ten past three

three ten

3.15

a quarter past three

three fifteen

3.20

twenty past three

three twenty

3.21

twenty-one minutes past three

three twenty-one

3.25

twenty-five past three

three twenty-five

3.30

half past three

three thirty

3.35

twenty-five to four

three thirty-five

3.40

twenty to four

three forty

3.45

a quarter to four

three forty-five

3.50

ten to four

three fifty

3.55

five to four

three fifty-five

3.57

three minutes to four

three fifty-seven

3.58

nearly four c'clock

three fifty-eight

4.00

four o'clock

four

Day and Night

There are 24 hours in a
day. The day is divided into "day(time)" and
"night(-time)". Daytime is from sunrise (this varies, but we can say
approximately 6am) to sunset (we can say approximately 6pm). Night-time is from
sunset to sunrise.

Every day starts
precisely at midnight. AM (Ante-Meridiem = before noon) starts just
after midnight. PM (Post-Meridiem=after noon) starts just
after midday. This means that 12am and 12pm have no meaning.

This diagram shows the
cycle of a 24-hour day and the words we use to describe its parts. The day
starts at midnight (at the bottom of the diagram).

The word day can
have two meanings:
1. the 24 hours between one midnight and the next 2. the time between sunrise
an

Days of the Week

Notice that
"weekdays" and "days of the week" are not the same:

"Days of the week"
are all 7 days from Monday to Sunday.

"Weekdays" are only
the 5 days from Monday to Friday.

The "weekend" is
Saturday and Sunday.

Day

Abbreviation

weekdays

Monday

Mon.

Mo.

Tuesday

Tue.

Tu.

Wednesday

Wed.

We.

Thursday

Thu.

Th.

Friday

Fri.

Fr.

weekend

Saturday

Sat.

Sa.

Sunday

Sun.

Su.

Months of the Year

The table below shows
the months of the year used in English-speaking countries and many other parts
of the world. The list shows the order of the months, starting from January
(month 1).

The abbreviations or
short forms shown are the most common, but other abbreviations are possible,
for example: Ja./Fe./Ma. or J./F./M.

The days column shows
the number of days in the month. All months have 30 or 31 days, except for February
which has 28 days (29 in a leap year).

Every fourth year, the
month of February has 29 days instead of 28. This year is called a "leap
year" and the 29th of February is a "leap day". A leap year has
366 days instead of the normal 365. Any year that can be divided cleanly by 4
is a leap year. 2012, 2016 and 2020 are all leap years.

Month

Short Form

Days

Season

1

January

Jan.

31

Winter

2

February

Feb.

28/29

3

March

Mar.

31

Spring

4

April

Apr.

30

5

May

May

31

6

June

Jun.

30

Summer

7

July

Jul.

31

8

August

Aug.

31

9

September

Sep.

30

Autumn

10

October

Oct.

31

11

November

Nov.

30

12

December

Dec.

31

Winter

The seasons are
approximate and depend on latitude. Some parts of the world have only three
seasons. The seasons shown here are for the North Temperate Zone (for example
North America).
In the southern hemisphere, the seasons are reversed.

Writing the Date

There are several
different ways to write the date in English. They vary from formal to informal,
and there are differences between British and American English. The following
table shows some typical formats.

Format

British: Day-Month-Year

American: Month-Day-Year

A

the Fourteenth of March, 2011

March the Fourteenth, 2011

B

14th March 2011

March 14th, 2011

C

14 March 2011

March 14, 2011

D

14/3/2011

3/14/2011

E

14/3/11

3/14/11

F

14/03/11

03/14/11

Note: which format to
use is a question of formality, politeness and personal choice. Generally, the
longer formats, such as B or C, are more polite (since they show more respect
for the reader). Shorter formats, such as D or E, are used in less formal
situations, for example a memo, a letter between friends or an impersonal
business letter. Format F is rather official and is typically seen on an
invoice or an official or technical document. Format A is extremely formal and
mainly used on printed items, for example a wedding invitation. The numerical
formats may use a full stop (.) or hyphen (-) instead of a slash (/), for
example: 14.3.2011 or 03-14-11

Note that another format
exists which writes the date numerically in the order Year-Month-Day, for
example: 2011/03/14. This is rare in British or American English and used
mainly in very official or technical documents.

Months

Number

Name

Abbreviations

1

January

Jan

J

2

February

Feb

F

3

March

Mar

M

4

April

Apr

A

5

May

May

M

6

June

Jun

J

7

July

Jul

J

8

August

Aug

A

9

September

Sep

S

10

October

Oct

O

11

November

Nov

N

12

December

Dec

D

In English, months are
correctly written with an initial capital: January, February...

Days of the Month

1st

first

2nd

second

3rd

third

4th

fourth

5th

fifth

6th

sixth

7th

seventh

8th

eighth

9th

ninth

10th

tenth

11th

eleventh

12th

twelfth

13th

thirteenth

14th

fourteenth

15th

fifteenth

16th

sixteenth

17th

seventeenth

18th

eighteenth

19th

nineteenth

20th

twentieth

21st

twenty-first

22nd

twenty-second

23rd

twenty-third

24th

twenty-fourth

25th

twenty-fifth

26th

twenty-sixth

27th

twenty-seventh

28th

twenty-eighth

29th

twenty-ninth

30th

thirtieth

31st

thirty-first

Calendar of Holidays and Events

This calendar lists many of the more popular holidays and events
worldwide. Note that some events do not always fall on exactly the same date
each year so you may need to check further for the year in question.

Date

Holiday or Event

Description

January 1

New Year's Day

On New Year's Day people make resolutions,
such as quitting smoking or starting a new diet. See also New
Year's Eve (December 31).

Second Monday of January

Coming of Age Day (Japan)

This event celebrates all of the citizens who
are 20 years old. In Japan,
20 is the age when adolescents officially become adults and can legally
smoke, drink, and vote. The young people gather in formal wear at government
buildings and listen to many important speakers. They also receive money.

Begins January or early February

Lunar New Year

Chinese New Year

This is a two week festival beginning on the
first day of the lunar year. Just prior to the holiday, families clean their
houses carefully in order to bring good luck into their homes. Families
gather for a reunion dinner on New Year's Eve. Lucky amounts of money are
distributed to family members in red envelopes. Each day honours something
different, such as parents, gods, or wealth.

February 14

Valentine's Day

Couples celebrate their love by exchanging
cards, chocolate, flowers, and other gifts. Many go on romantic dates.
Children give Valentine's cards to friends and relatives.

A two-week festival before the Christian
period of Lent, celebrated annually in many parts of the world, especially Rio de Janeiro. The
festivities include colourful street parties, parades, and dancing.New Orleans is famous for its Mardis Gras parties.

March 17

St. Patrick's Day

Traditionally an Irish celebration. People
with Irish roots (or not) worldwide wear green and drink Irish beer and eat
Irish food on this day. Parties and parades feature Irish music and dancing.

March 20, 21 or 22

Norooz

Iranian New Year. (There are various other
spellings such as Norouz, Narooz, Nawruz, Newroz, Newruz, Nauruz, Nawroz
etc.)

March/April (15th day of Hebrew month Nisan)

Passover

7-day Jewish holiday marking the birth of a
free Jewish nation. As told in the Book of Exodus, the Children of Israel
were freed from Pharaoh and began to follow God. Many Jews avoid eating or
having bread products in the home during this time. This is symbolic of the
Jews leaving Egypt
so quickly that their bread did not have time to rise.

Late March or early April

Good Friday, Easter

Christian holiday honouring the crucifixion of
Jesus (Good Friday) and celebrating the resurrection (Easter Sunday). Also a
commercial holiday in which children search for chocolate and gifts left by
the Easter Bunny.

Annual celebration of Mexico's victory over France in the
Battle of Puebla. The battle became a symbol of Mexican unity. Festivities
include parades, parties, and dancing with Mexican food and mariachi music.

June 23-24

Midsummer's Eve and Day, (primarily Sweden, Finland,
Denmark, Russia)

Often considered the beginning of summer
holidays. Celebrated with lakeside bonfires, parties, and dancing around a
maypole.

July 1

Canada Day

Canadians honour their country and celebrate
independence with fireworks, parades, and parties. Most people wear red and
sport the maple leaf emblem.

July 6-14

Fiestas of San Fermin: Running of the Bulls (Spain)

Annual 9-day festival in Pamplona, Spain,
which is famous for the running of the bulls. The event has prompted
worldwide attention since being mentioned in Hemmingway's novel, The
Sun Also Rises.

July or August, depending on lunar calendar

Raksha Bandan (India)

Hindu celebration among brothers and sisters.
Sisters tie a special bracelet around their brothers wrists to demonstrate
love and honour. Brothers offer gifts to sisters and promise to protect and
care for them.

August 9

Women's Day (South Africa)

National holiday acknowledging August 9, 1956
when 20,000 women marched to the government buildings in Pretoria to protest the law that required
black women to carry passes.

Mid September-Mid October (10th day of Hebrew
month Tishrei)

Yom Kippur

Annual Jewish holiday, also known as the Day
of Atonement. Jewish people fast for 25 hours, and refrain from working. They
spend much of the day in prayer. Many Jews wear white on this day to
symbolize the freedom they acquire as their sins against God are forgiven.
Leather shoes are forbidden.

Falls between Mid-September and Mid October

Mid Autumn Festival, a.k.a Moon Festival (China)

Families unite to watch the full moon rise and
to eat moon cakes. Couples enjoy evening romance under the light of the full
moon.

Two weeks between late September and early
October

Oktoberfest (Germany)

The world's largest fair. The mayor of Munich taps a keg of
beer to start the festival each year. Beer and traditional German food is
served. Party goers enjoy traditional music and dancing.

October 31

Halloween

Children carve pumpkins and decorate homes
with spooky scenes. After dark they dress up in costumes and go door to door
collecting candy from neighbours. Adults have costume parties.

November 1

All Saint's Day (Day of the Dead)

Originally celebrated the death of martyrs and
saints. Today All Saint's Day is often the day families honour deceased
relatives by bringing flowers and other offerings to graves.

November 5

Guy Fawkes Night (UK), a.k.a Bonfire Night

Commemorates the failure of the Gunpowder Plot
of 1605; an attempt by Guy Fawkes and other conspirators to blow up the
parliament houses in Westminister. The celebration includes fireworks and
bonfires. A dummy of Guy Fawkes is typically burnt.

Fourth Thursday of November (US), Second
Monday of October (Canada)

Thanksgiving Day

Marks the end of harvest. This is a time to
give thanks for food, and is celebrated by large feasts (especially turkey,
pumpkin pie, and fall vegetables) and family get togethers. Other countries
such as Korea
(Chusok in mid August) celebrate the harvest at other times of
the year.

December 25

Christmas Day

Traditionally a Christian holiday celebrating
the birth of Jesus Christ. Now also a commercial holiday with card and gift
exchanges throughout December. Children wait for Santa Claus to bring gifts.
Houses, businesses and streets are decorated with trees, lights and other
Christmas symbols. People sing Christmas carols.

December 31

New Year's Eve

Citizens gather in urban centres or friends'
homes on the last evening of the year to count down to midnight together. New
Year's Eve parties often include dancing, listening to rock bands and
watching fireworks after the clock strikes twelve. See also New
Year's Day (January 1).

Hajj

This is the Muslim pilgrimage (special
journey) to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
All Muslims are expected to make the pilgrimage at least once during their
lifetime. Also called Haj or Hadj. Originally from the Arabic
"al-hajj", meaning "The Great Pilgrimage". It takes place
during the 12th month of the Islamic lunar year, which does not coincide with
the Gregorian calendar above (in fact it falls about 11 days earlier each
year in the Gregorian calendar).

Glossary of English Grammar Terms

This glossary of English
grammar terms relates to the English language. Some terms here may have
additional or extended meanings when applied to other languages. For example,
"case" in some languages applies to pronouns and nouns. In English,
nouns do not have case and therefore no reference to nouns is made in its
definition here.

feature of some verb forms that relates to
duration or completion of time; verbs can have no aspect (simple), or can
have continuous or progressive
aspect (expressing duration), or have perfect or perfective
aspect (expressing completion)

verb used with the main verb to help indicate
something such as tense or voice
eg: I do not like you. She has finished.
He can swim.

bare infinitive

unmarked form of the verb (no indication of
tense, mood, person, or aspect) without the particle "to";
typically used after modal auxiliary verbs; see also infinitive
eg: "He should come", "I can swim"

form of a pronoun based on its relationship to
other words in the sentence; case can be subjective, objective or possessive
eg: "I love this dog", "This dog loves me",
"This is my dog"

causative verb

verb that causes things to happen such as
"make", "get" and "have"; the subject does not
perform the action but is indirectly responsible for it
eg: "She made me go to school", "I had my
nails painted"

clause

group of words containing a subject and its
verb
eg: "It was late when he arrived"

to show the different forms of a verb
according to voice, mood, tense, number andperson; conjugation is quite
simple in English compared to many other languages
eg: I walk, you walk, he/she/it walks, we walk, they walk; I walked, you
walked, he/she/it walked, we walked, they walked

word that has meaning in a sentence, such as a
verb or noun (as opposed to astructure word, such as pronoun or
auxiliary verb); content words are stressed in speech
eg: "Could you BRING my GLASSES because
I've LEFT them at HOME"

verb form (specifically an aspect) indicating actions
that are in progress or continuing over a given time period (can be past,
present or future); formed with "BE" + "VERB-ing"
eg: "They are watching TV."

thing that you can count, such as apple, pen,
tree (see uncountable noun)
eg: one apple, three pens, ten trees

dangling participle

illogical structure that occurs in a sentence
when a writer intends to modify one thing but the reader attaches it to
another
eg: "Running to the bus, the flowers were blooming." (In the
example sentence it seems that the flowers were running.)

declarative sentence

sentence type typically used to make a
statement (as opposed to a question or command)
eg: "Tara works hard", "It
wasn't funny"

defining relative
clause
(also called "restrictive relative clause")

relative clause that contains
information required for the understanding of the sentence; not set off with
commas; see also non-defining clause
eg: "The boy who was wearing a blue shirt was the
winner"

word such as an article or a possessive adjective or other
adjective that typically comes at the beginning of noun phrases
eg: "It was an excellent film", "Do you
like my new shirt?", "Let's buy some eggs"

direct speech

saying what someone said by using their exact
words; see also indirect speech
eg: "Lucy said: 'I am tired.'"

direct object

noun phrase in a sentence that directly
receives the action of the verb; see alsoindirect object
eg: "Joey bought the car", "I like it",
"Can you see the man wearing a pink shirt and waving a
gun in the air?"

embedded question

question that is not in normal question form
with a question mark; it occurs within another statement or question and
generally follows statement structure
eg: "I don't know where he went," "Can you tell
me where it is before you go?", "They haven't
decided whether they should come"

finite verb

verb form that has a specific tense, number
and person
eg: I work, he works, we learned,
they ran

"if-then" conditional structure used
for future actions or events that are seen as realistic possibilities
eg: "If we win the lottery we will buy a car"

fragment

incomplete piece of a sentence used alone as a
complete sentence; a fragment does not contain a complete thought; fragments
are common in normal speech but unusual (inappropriate) in formal writing
eg: "When's her birthday? - In December", "Will
they come? - Probably not"

function

purpose or "job" of a word form or
element in a sentence
eg: The function of a subject is to perform the action. One
function of an adjective is to describe a noun. The function of a
noun is to name things.

tense* used to show that something will be
ongoing until a certain time in the future; formed with WILL HAVE BEEN +
VERB-ing
eg: "We will have been living there for three months by
the time the baby is born"

any reversal of the normal word order, especially placing
the auxiliary verb before the subject; used in a variety of ways, as in
question formation, conditional clauses and agreement or disagreement
eg: "Where are your keys?","Had we watched the weather report,
we wouldn't have gone to the beach", "So did he",
"Neither did she"

relative clause that adds
information but is not completely necessary; set off from the sentence with a
comma or commas; see defining relative clause
eg: "The boy, who had a chocolate bar in his hand, was still
hungry"

part of speech that names a
person, place, thing, quality, quantity or concept; see also proper noun and compound noun
eg: "The man is waiting", "I was born
in London",
"Is that your car?", "Do you likemusic?"

noun clause

clause that takes the
place of a noun and cannot stand on its own; often introduced with words such
as "that, who or whoever"
eg: "What the president said was surprising"

noun phrase (NP)

any word or group of words based on a noun or
pronoun that can function in a sentence as a subject, object or prepositional
object; can be one word or many words; can be very simple or very complex
eg: "She is nice", "When is the meeting?",
"The car over there beside the lampost is mine"

number

change of word form indicating one person or
thing (singular) or more than one
person or thing (plural)
eg: one dog/three dogs, she/they

object

thing or person affected by the verb; see
also direct object and indirect object
eg: "The boy kicked the ball", "We chose the
house with the red door"

tense that refers to action that happened in
the past and continued to a certain point in the past; formed with HAD BEEN +
VERB-ing
eg: "I had been waiting for three hours when he
arrived"

past participle

verb form (V3) - usually made by
adding "-ed" to the base verb - typically used in perfect and
passive tenses, and sometimes as an adjective
eg: "I have finished", "It was seen by
many people", "boiled eggs"

grammatical category that identifies people in
a conversation; there are three persons: 1st person (pronouns I/me, we/us) is
the speaker(s), 2nd person (pronoun you) is the listener(s), 3rd person
(pronouns he/him, she/her, it, they/them) is everybody or everything else

two or more words that have a single function
and form part of a sentence; phrases can be noun, adjective, adverb,
verb or prepositional

plural

of a noun or form indicating more than one
person or thing; plural nouns are usually formed by adding "-s"; see
also singular, number
eg: bananas, spoons, trees

position

grammatically correct placement of a word form
in a phrase or sentence in relation to other word forms
eg: "The correct position for an article is at the beginning of the noun
phrase that it describes"

positive

basic state of an adjective or adverb when it
shows quality but not comparative orsuperlative
eg: nice, kind, quickly

pronoun that indicates
ownership or possession
eg: "Where is mine?", "These are yours"

predicate

one of the two main parts (subject and predicate)
of a sentence; the predicate is the
part that is not the subject
eg: "My brother is a doctor", "Who did you call?",
"The woman wearing a blue dress helped me"

part of speech that typically
comes before a noun phrase and shows some type of relationship between that
noun phrase and another element (including relationships of time, location,
purpose etc)
eg: "We sleep at night", "I live in London",
"This is for digging"

tense usually used to describe states and
actions that are general, habitual or (with the verb "to be") true
right now; formed with the basic verb (+ s for 3rd person singular)
eg: "Canada sounds beautiful",
"She walks to school", "I am very
happy"

tense that connects the past and the present,
typically used to express experience, change or a continuing situation;
formed with HAVE + VERB-ed
eg: "I have worked there", "John has
broken his leg", "How long have you been in
Canada?"

tense used to describe an action that has
recently stopped or an action continuing up to now; formed with HAVE + BEEN +
VERB-ing
eg: "I'm tired because I've been running", "He has
been living in Canada for two years"

pronoun that indicates
that two or more subjects are acting mutually; there are two in English -
each other, one another
eg: "John and Mary were shouting at each other",
"The students accused one another of cheating"

reduced relative clause
(also called "participial relative clause")

construction similar to a relative clause, but containing
a participle instead of
a finite verb; this construction is
possible only under certain circumstances
eg: "The woman sitting on the bench is my sister",
"The people arrested by the police have been
released"

"if-then" conditional structure used
to talk about an unlikely possibility in the future
eg: "If we won the lottery we would buy a car"

sentence

largest grammatical unit; a sentence must
always include a subject (except forimperatives) and predicate; a written sentence
starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop/period (.), question
mark (?) or exclamation mark (!); a sentence contains a complete thought such
as a statement, question, request or command
eg: "Stop!", "Do you like coffee?", "I work."

series

list of items in a sentence
eg: "The children ate popsicles, popcorn and chips"

singular

of a noun or form indicating exactly one
person or thing; singular nouns are usually the simplest form of the noun (as
found in a dictionary); see also plural, number
eg: banana, spoon, tree

split infinitive

situation where a word or phrase comes between
the particle "to" and the verb in an infinitive; considered poor
construction by some
eg: "He promised to never lie again"

Standard English (S.E.)

"normal" spelling, pronunciation and
grammar that is used by educated native speakers of English

structure word

word that has no real meaning in a sentence,
such as a pronoun or auxiliary verb (as opposed to a content word, such as verb or
noun); structure words are not normally stressed in speech
eg: "Could you BRING my GLASSES because
I've LEFT them at HOME"

subject

one of the two main parts (subject and predicate) of a sentence; the subject is the
part that is not the predicate; typically, the subject is the first noun
phrase in asentence and is what the
rest of the sentence "is about"
eg: "The rain water was dirty", "Mary is
beautiful", "Who saw you?"

fairly rare verb form typically used to talk
about events that are not certain to happen, usually something that someone
wants, hopes or imagines will happen; formed with BARE INFINITIVE (except
past of "be")
eg: "The President requests that John attend the
meeting"

special construction with statement that ends
in a mini-question; the whole sentence is a tag question; the mini-question
is a question tag; usually used to
obtain confirmation
eg: "The Earth is round, isn't it?", "You don't eat meat, do
you?"

form of a verb that shows us when the action
or state happens (past, present or future). Note that the name of a tense is
not always a guide to when the action happens. The "present continuous
tense", for example, can be used to talk about the present or the
future.